Afrika südlich der Sahara
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Southern African protected areas (PAs) harbour a great diversity of animals, which represent a large potential for wildlife tourism. In this region, global change is expected to result in vegetation changes, such as bush encroachment and increases in vegetation density. However, little is known on the influence of vegetation structure on wildlife tourists’ wildlife viewing experience and satisfaction. In this study, we collected data on vegetation structure and perceived mammal densities along 196 road transects (each 5 km long) and conducted a social survey with 651 questionnaires across four PAs in three Southern African countries. Our objectives were 1) to assess visitors’ attitude towards vegetation, 2) to test the influence of perceived mammal density and vegetation structure on the easiness to spot animals, and 3) on visitors’ satisfaction during their visit to PAs. Using a Boosted Regression Tree procedure, we found mostly negative non-linear relationships between vegetation density and wildlife tourists’ experience, and positive relationships between perceived mammal densities and wildlife tourists’ experience. In particular, wildlife tourists disliked road transects with high estimates of vegetation density. Similarly, the easiness to spot animals dropped at thresholds of high vegetation density and at perceived mammal densities lower than 46 individuals per road transect. Finally, tourists’ satisfaction declined linearly with vegetation density and dropped at mammal densities smaller than 26 individuals per transect. Our results suggest that vegetation density has important impacts on tourists’ wildlife viewing experience and satisfaction. Hence, the management of PAs in savannah landscapes should consider how tourists perceive these landscapes and their mammal diversity in order to maintain and develop a sustainable wildlife tourism.
Background: The West African country of Burkina Faso (BFA) is an example for the enduring importance of traditional plant use today. A large proportion of its 17 million inhabitants lives in rural communities and strongly depends on local plant products for their livelihood. However, literature on traditional plant use is still scarce and a comprehensive analysis for the country is still missing.
Methods: In this study we combine the information of a recently published plant checklist with information from ethnobotanical literature for a comprehensive, national scale analysis of plant use in Burkina Faso. We quantify the application of plant species in 10 different use categories, evaluate plant use on a plant family level and use the relative importance index to rank all species in the country according to their usefulness. We focus on traditional medicine and quantify the use of plants as remedy against 22 classes of health disorders, evaluate plant use in traditional medicine on the level of plant families and rank all species used in traditional medicine according to their respective usefulness.
Results: A total of 1033 species (50%) in Burkina Faso had a documented use. Traditional medicine, human nutrition and animal fodder were the most important use categories. The 12 most common plant families in BFA differed considerably in their usefulness and application. Fabaceae, Poaceae and Malvaceae were the plant families with the most used species. In this study Khaya senegalensis, Adansonia digitata and Diospyros mespiliformis were ranked the top useful plants in BFA. Infections/Infestations, digestive system disorders and genitourinary disorders are the health problems most commonly addressed with medicinal plants. Fabaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Apocynaceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae were the most important plant families in traditional medicine. Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa and Adansonia digitata were ranked the most important medicinal plants.
Conclusions: The national-scale analysis revealed systematic patterns of traditional plant use throughout BFA. These results are of interest for applied research, as a detailed knowledge of traditional plant use can a) help to communicate conservation needs and b) facilitate future research on drug screening.
In spite of enormous climatic differences between Burkina Faso and Germany, 20 species belong to the spontaneous flora of both countries, i.e. 1% of the flora of Burkina Faso and 0.15 % of the German flora. All of them are either ruderal and segetal species (16) or water and reed plants (4). All of the 16 ruderals/segetals are therophytes. From a recent point of view, most of the 20 species can be classified as cosmopolitan, because they cover three and more floristic zones, and/or at least three climatic zones, and/or are represented in at least three continents. Although Burkina Faso has a semi-arid climate, none of the species can be called a sclero- or xerophyte. Therefore, in Burkina Faso, all are more or less bound to habitats at least temporarily flooded or to humid soils. In Germany, however, the concerned ruderals, with one exception, are indicators of medium dry or dry habitats.
Wild plant species are important nutritious supplements to otherwise nutrient poor diets of rural populations in West Africa. Consequently, a decline of wild food species has a direct negative impact on the nutritional status of local households. In this study, we firstly investigated the preferred wild food species in south-east Burkina Faso, their perceived change in abundance as well as their contribution to wild food income. Secondly, we studied how these species might be substituted in times of species shortfall. Thirdly, we investigated the impact of socio-economic variables on the substitution choice. We conducted 155 household interviews in two villages and found 21 wild food species. With a contribution of almost 70% to wild food income, Vitellaria paradoxa and Parkia biglobosa were economically most important. All species were considered declining to some degree. The wide range of cited substitutes for the ten most important wild food species indicates a great knowledge on alternative plant species in the area. For the majority, the substitution choice did not depend on socio-economic characteristics. Cited as surrogate for several important wild food species, the native tree Balanites aegyptiaca was the most important substitute species. Many valued wild food species were substituted with other highly valued wild food species and therefore the decline of one species can lead to a shortfall of another substitute. Thus, even though our results suggest that people are able to counteract the decrease or absence of wild food species, growing decline of one species would concurrently increase the pressure on other native food species.
Although there is an increasing need for data in ecological studies, many datasets are still lost or not sufficiently visible due to a lack of appropriate data archives. With the West African Data and Metadata Repository, we present a secure long-term archive for a data-poor region allowing detailed documentation by metadata following the EML standard and giving data holders the opportunity to define levels of data access and conditions of use. This article gives an overview of structure, functions and content. The repository is online at the URL http://westafricandata.senckenberg.de.